Last week, the Mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio announced plans for 64 new PROSE Program schools in the city. This comes at the same time that de Blasio stated his intentions to fight against raising the cap on the number of charter schools allowed in the state of New York, which in turn would allow more charter schools in New York City.

Partisan politics have once again stopped action from being taken in the best interest of students in the state of New York. As a battle between state senate Republicans (allied with Governor Cuomo), and state assembly Democrats (allied with powerful teachers’ unions) heats up, charter school students and student hopefuls are caught in the political crossfire. While senate Republicans attempt to raise the charter school cap by 100 schools, Assembly Democrats are fighting to keep the cap at current levels.

Last week, AAE representatives had the pleasure of attending the American Federation for Children (AFC) National Policy Summit in New Orleans, Louisiana. AAE was honored to represent a teacher-driven voice among a cadre of diverse speakers and guests from all walks of life and political stripes. Although attendee opinions varied, advocates joined together with an important common goal in mind: education reform.

The Foundation for Excellence in Education released the 2014 Digital Learning Report Card last month. The report details state policies on digital learning based on their alignment to the 10 Elements of High-Quality Digital Learning.

Although it may be hard to believe, we’re fast approaching the end of the school year. In most districts, testing is well underway if not complete. For many of us there’s only a few weeks left to wrap up the year before the two months of reflection, planning, and downtime begin. How you spend those months can have a great influence on what happens the upcoming year. Here are our suggestions for relaxing, productive summer break: